Slam Dunk or Snake Oil?

Social media to me is a better awareness and community development tool. It can be used for fundraising (tinyurl.com/y684bgy), but without a die-hard community in place first, that's not going to happen quickly. In fact, you will spin your wheels and think that "social" doesn't work.

I would focus on building a social community. Whatever you want to do online, having real relationships with people that care about your cause and are influential in their own social networks is the essence of success. Then, after it matures, begin harnessing willing community members for online grassroots fundraising.